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Viago was having an alright day. Kalias and his kids are staying out of trouble, though Viago would be willing to bet that was Rosa’s influence. Allona and Illario are keeping the Treviso more or less intact, a miracle considering Illario’s capabilities. And he hasn’t seen Eshari or Monello since his wedding a few weeks ago. Those brats better be staying out of trouble.
The only problem is that he hasn’t seen Teia all day. Which is a shame because he could really use a dose of his wonderful wife instead of dealing with these idiots like he has been. Why is it so hard for him to enjoy a single day without dealing with idiots who want to cause him trouble? He already gets enough of that from his own kids.
So when he finally gets a moment to himself, Viago is more than happy to take it. “So this is where you’ve been, Vi.” Finally! She sets something down. Before Viago turns around, he can already feel his sudden good mood evaporate into nothing. There’s not much that can do that. “I brought a little… Something!”
Although he really doesn’t want to, he turns around to find out what his wife, of all people, has brought to ruin his mood. He’s met with a basket of squirming, wiggling toddlers. Four of them, to be precise. All elves. Almost all with heterochromia and all with either red or white hair.
The first is a girl with choppy, deep red hair and a set of mismatched eyes, one purple and one green. Beside her is a boy with spiky white hair, a matching purple eye, a bright blue eye, and some subtle freckles. The third child is a pale girl with straight white hair and red eyes. Finally, there’s a boy with fluffy, curly, deep-red hair with a red eye and a green eye. Every single one of them is naked.
Is Teia trying to replace his kids?
“Don’t give me that look, Vi. We’re not replacing anyone.” Teia grins at him. “Found them in a back alley. Thought it would do you some good.” He moves to say something. “Yes, it will. You and I both know how much you’ve been struggling since everyone moved out.” She… has a point.
Viago hadn’t seen himself raising more kids after all the headaches associated with the ones he has, but he’s not going to argue a lie. “Fine. Do they have names, or do I need to—“
“No need! I thought of some on the way over!” He glares at her. “Don’t look at me like that. We both know you suck at naming children.”
“Hey! Miguel Olivar Nicasio Estaban Luis Lorenzo Ortiz is a perfectly fine name, and I don't know why everyone has a problem with it!"
"Vi. That's an acronym. You can't name a child an acronym. If I'd known about it beforehand, I wouldn't have let you do it."
Viago pouts. "Fine. What are their names?"
Teia points to each child in turn: "Mihris," the redheaded girl; "Theo," the white-haired boy; "Luna," the white-haired, possibly albino girl; "and Marcos." She stops on the redheaded boy. "And before you ask, yes. I've already figured out childcare for when we're busy."
"Hey! Dad!" Viago really didn't need another headache right now. "When do you--" Kalias stops, eyes locking on the murder of small children on the table. He grins softly in the way he does with his own kids. "You're busy; I'll come back later." Just like that, the most unpredictable of his kids leaves as quickly as he'd come. Weird. He would have expected more from the white-haired man, given his proclivity for adopting kids.
"I see Kal's in good spirits." Teia comments. "Now! Why don't you help me get these guys home, and we can go over everything?" Viago sighs, picks up the basket of toddlers, and follows Teia back home.
Viago wasn't really one for the biweekly family dinners Allona and Kalias, along with their families, hosted. Sure, he was perfectly fine dining with either of them alone, but there was something about having all of them together that always set Viago on edge. It could be that he has to sit in a room with two Dellamortes. It could be the murder of children. It could even be that the twins always seem to see through him.
“So. Viago.” Allona begins, looking eight types of smug. “Kal tells me you have news.”
“Grandpa has news?” Fey, the most normal of his grandkids, asks. “Really?! What is it?”
Kalias stares at him expectantly. “Teia and I have adopted several children.”
“I knew it!” Allona cheers. “Suck it, Lucanis! You owe me 50 gold!”
“Not so fast! We haven’t been told how many.” Lucanis states.
“Four,” Kal states.
“Pay up, Cousin,” Illario states smugly. “A bet’s a bet,” Lucanis grumbles, then hands over the sack. Kalias, being the little shit he is on a good day, decides to soothe his husband by pulling him into his arms, playing with his hair, and making out at the table. Ugh.
Why did he come again?
“Grandpa?” Fey asks. “Can we meet them?” Right. He came for Fey and only Fey. He’s the only normal person in this room.
“Of course!” Oh. Grand. Teia’s here with the kids now. She slams open the door, letting them race in. Viago drinks his slightly poisoned tea, letting the kids wear them out before he has to deal with them.
“They look like us!” Meren cheers. “Where’d you find them?”
“On the streets,” Teia begins, more than willing to explain as Viago looks back to Kal. Yup. Still heatedly making out. He knew Kalias has no shame, but now he’s infecting Lucanis? How could a First Talon let themselves be influenced like that?
Viago knows exactly where those two are heading, so he decides to remove the possibility before it has a chance to form. “If you two are going to be all over each other, then do it somewhere away from my soup.” Viago demands.
“Good idea.” Kalias purrs. Ugh. At least he stands, Lucanis still in his lap, and carries his husband out of the room. Fey and Meren watch them go for only a moment before returning to observe their new family members.
“So.” Allona states. “Does this make them my cousins or my siblings?” Viago’s really going to drown himself in Up and Adder this time.
Surprisingly, it took Monello several weeks to discover Viago’s new set of fledglings, and that was only because he kept having to push back his training with Kalias’ murder because of his work with that Tevinter detective.
“Hey, Viago.” Monello begins, coming to ask him something. “Would you be ab—“ Monello freezes as he catches sight of the kids. That look the boy gets when he’s mentally calculating, something spreads across his face. He’d thought he’d taught Monello a better poker face than that, but perhaps he was mistaken.
“Why is it always red and white?” He mumbles. “And heterochromia, too? Where do they keep coming from?” Does Viago even want to know what he’s talking about?
“Oh! Hey Rook! Been a while!” Teia greets. Monello cocks his head as he looks at her, that same calculated expression returning to his face. What now?
“Hey, Teia. Everything alright?”
“Why do you ask?” Teia states in the taunting way she always does. “See something you like?”
“… You seem a bit unwell.” There’s something Monello’s not saying. “Perhaps you should see a physician? I can talk with Viago about the training schedule later.” He leaves them alone without hesitating.
Viago takes a moment to actually look her over. She looks a bit pale. Hm. Perhaps a trip to the physician is prudent. It would at least rule out an illness.
“Vi. We need to talk.” Teia states as she strolls in with a hand on her stomach. There’s something bothering her. Is she ill? She would have returned from the physician perhaps an hour ago at most.
Viago puts his work down, turning to give his wife his full attention. “What is it? Are you sick? Were you poisoned? Do you need an antidote?”
“No. No, I’m fine.” She takes a seat beside him, smiling warmly. “I’m pregnant.”
Viago doesn’t know how to react to that. They’d assumed it was all but impossible, given the sheer amount of poison he drinks in a day. It should have been impossible. By all rights, their baby was a miracle that managed to survive all the odds.
He hadn’t thought of himself as someone who would want to raise any more kids. But that was before Teia brought the quadruplets into his life. Even still, Viago never thought about the possibility of a fifth kid in the mix. He doesn’t mind nearly as much as he thought. In fact, there’s a distinct excitement beginning its ascent within him.
“You’re pregnant,” Viago repeats dumbly. “With my child.”
“Of course. Why would I ever cheat on you when we fuck more than rabbits?” Teia flirts. “Besides, You know I can’t leave you alone for more than five minutes. You’re much more interesting than anyone else I could find.”
He might just feel a smile creeping its way on his face as he pulls Teia in for a heated makeout session.
“Viago!” Eshari scolds as she storms up to him. “Why did I have to find out from Kal that you adopted more kids and have another on the way?” She waves a paper in his face. He takes it, finding a series of pictograms that Viago can only guess the meaning of.
“It’s hardly my fault you ran off to live in the Fade with that Warden instead of staying nearby like the rest of your siblings.”
“You could have sent a letter!” Again, she waves the paper in her face. “Kal sent one, for fucks sake! And you couldn’t be bothered to tell me I’ve new little siblings?”
“I’ve been busy—“
“Viago. You and I both know you could have told me if you wanted to. How hard would it have been for you to sit down for five minutes to write a letter?” Eshari sighs before switching gears. “Never mind that now. Where are they? I want to meet them.”
“They’re visiting with Kalias and his murder of fledglings.”
She doesn’t seem impressed. “Right. And Teia?”
“Speaking with Lucanis over something to do with childcare.” Esha barely gives him another word before rushing off.
Viago sits in a chair near the room Kalias had specially prepared for such occasions. He’s seen his own kids in this situation several times, but he’s never truly understood how it felt to be in this position. Teia will be all right, right? She has to make it. And their baby. They have to make it, too. Viago doesn’t want to live in a world without the two of them.
He’s not sure how he feels to see everyone around him supporting the two of them. Even Illario is here, and Viago knows he’s missing at least three meetings to be here. All the Dellamorte had said was that, of course, he would be there to support his Mother and Father in law. It was only proper, after all. Viago’s pretty sure he just wanted to rub something in their faces.
Thankfully, Rosa agreed to watch the ever-rowdy murder for them so they could focus on the task at hand. Viago only wished he could be in the room at her side. Unfortunately, Teia told him to wait outside after a full hour of trying to make her as comfortable as possible and fretting over everything, so instead of being there with his wife, Viago has to accept that Eshari will be seeing his child before him.
“Don’t worry so much, Dad. Mom will be fine. She’s strong.” Kalias states out of nowhere.
Viago blinks at the man. He’s got the confident gleam in his eyes that almost makes Viago believe him.
“He’s right,” Eshari states, opening the door. “Teia and your daughter are fine. Now come see them.” The worry Viago hadn’t even realized was crushing him lifts all at once. He has a new daughter. A child that shares his blood.
Why is he nervous? It’s ridiculous to be nervous about seeing his own wife and kid.
Viago pushes into the room, definitely not rushing over to Teia’s side, where she’s feeding their baby girl. “Vi.” She smiles at him, clearly tired. “Meet Belladonna.” Belladonna. Also known as deadly nightshade. A beautiful purple flower with slightly sweet berries. A perfect name for their little girl.
He gets his first proper look at the girl as she pulls off the nipple, yawning and blinking before going back to feeding. She has his eyes. And black hair curlier than even Teia’s. She’s perfect.
As Viago watches their children roughhouse with Teia feeding their youngest at his side, he’s reminded that while he never saw himself becoming a Father again, Viago wouldn’t trade it for the world.